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Thursday, April 26, 2018

HP 4520s Laptop Teardown, Random Stuff, and More

- I obviously do laptop support/repair from time to time:
- this post will cover a 'teardown' of a HP 4520s and replacement of the CMOS battery. This is one of the 'lesser designs' that I've come across when it comes to repairs, upgrades, etc... so I thought I'd document it for others. There are teardowns available online but it never reallly compares to having to do deal with the real thing. As an aside, always get teardowns of possible prior to dealing with laptops. My experience is that even with experience with a particular model/class of laptop it's still possible that some difficulties may be experienced
4520s teardown
- basically bottom panel (holds most of the hardware including the keyboard, hard drive, RAM, etc... except the LCD panel) is composed of three parts. Part that holds power button, keyboard, and mousepad component. Five screws to remove 'top/power button panel' (three under battery and two at back under two rubber pads), two screws up top which hold keyboard in place, three screws which hold bottom/track pad in place (bottom pad needs to be slid to the right as well). Two ribbon cables to connect keyboard and trackpad to mainboard
- the 4xxx class of computers are superficially similar/compatible. The CMOS battery on the 4520s lies beneath a plastic structure which must be detacted/lifted from the existing body for it to be replaced. This doesn't seem to be documented on other members of the 4xxx class of laptop
How to remove or replace a HP Probook 4320s CMOS Battery
- if you've ever wanted to repair a laptop power brick you've probably wondered how to open them non-destructively. Most people used to 'crack them open' using a knife and hammer. Online videos I've come lately indicate a 'better method'. Petroleum based products such as degreasers, solvents, petrol etc... can be used to dissolve the glue that holds 'power bricks' together (people online use syringes, cotton buds, etc... but you can get away with simply pouring it down the relevant crack). Then you can literally use your hands to open the power brick. Thereafter, it's a case of tracking down the source of the problem and dealing with it. Obviously, this class of electronics is difficult to find parts for and if you can find spare parts they often cost so much that they make the repair uneconomical. That's why I sometimes keep old/broken equipment around simply to make up for this possibility
How To Open A Laptop Adapter - laptop adapter disassemble trick
- if you've ever had to deal with laptop repair on a long term basis you've dealt with the 'missing panel' problem from time to time. Of late, I've been thinking about 3D printing, putty style materials (Selley's Knead It), melting plastic (home based recycling operation), etc...
- startup problems can be difficult to track down sometimes because of the design of some laptops. Discharging power from all sources can sometimes work with this particular class/model of laptop
How to fix a HP laptop that does not turn on but instead blinks (flashes) an amber orange light
How to repair HP Probook Laptop Won't Turn ON
HP 4530s Troubleshooting (laptop won't start)
- as it currently stands there are limited mechanisms to achieve a BIOS password reset in the case of lost, hacked, stolen, vandalised, etc... laptops
bypass bios password 4520s

Random Stuff:
- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
- feels like LinkedIn is imposing a 'grey listing' type mechanism at play for some strange reason? It feels possible to bypass auth wall if you follow a particular protocol sometimes. Will dig deeper into this at some stage down the line
- latest in science and technology
Why did Borland fail?
- latest in finance and politics
- latest in defense and intelligence
- latest in animal news
- latest in music and entertainment

Random Quotes:
- Veg-focused dining isn't just an inner-city trend. At Cornersmith, students travel far and wide to attend its tofu and miso classes. Diners come from interstate to stock up at Smith & Deli and one regular commutes four hours (twice a week) to get her vegan food fix. Kenney's Plantminded company, will serve hospitals, schools, universities and lower-income neighbourhoods with products like frozen pizza.

For Kenney, plant-based dining keeps gaining momentum. "We get approached a half dozen times a day about [opening] new places," he says. "The phone never rang three years ago."

The growing innovation in plant-based foods, from pea milk (which Martinez is excited about) to San Francisco start-up Just producing convincing vegan "eggs" from mung beans, is helping spur interest.

But this isn't just a fad with an expiration date. It's amplifying an idea that Dan Barber explores in The Third Plate, from 2014. In his influential book, he imagines a carrot steak as the headliner of a dish, instead of a "hulking piece of protein". He was forecasting the way we would eat – and how we'd need to eat. The environmental, agricultural, health and economical reasons for sidelining meat are not going away – but will only become more undeniable with time.

And vegan cuisine is accessible to everyone: "It's the most widely friendly food to every group," he says, from pork-avoiding Muslims to the lactose-intolerant. "Unless you're allergic to vegetables, there's no reason to stay away."
- Over the years, there have been a handful of small arms detection technologies tested and incorporated into helicopters; one of them, which first emerged as something the Army was evaluating in 2010 is called Ground Fire Acquisition System, or GFAS.

This system, integrated onto Apache Attack helicopters, uses infrared sensors to ID a “muzzle flash” or heat signature from an enemy weapon. The location of enemy fire could then be determined by a gateway processor on board the helicopter able to quickly geolocate the attack.

While Klager said there are, without question, similarities between air-combat HFD technologies and those emerging for ground combat vehicles, he did point to some distinct differences.

“From ground to ground, you have a lot more moving objects,” he said.

Potential integration between HFD and Active Protection Systems is also part of the calculus, Klager explained. APS technology, now being assessed on Army Abrams tanks, Bradleys and Strykers, uses sensors, fire control technology and interceptors to ID and knock out incoming RPGs and ATGMs, among other things. While APS, in concept and application, involves threats larger or more substantial than things like small arms fire, there is great combat utility in synching APS to HFD.
- DARPA director Steven Walker said the top-secret US arms research agency is focusing on breakthroughs that can be configured as part of new weapons systems, while calculating out how much these weapons will cost.

“Things are moving,” Walker was quoted as saying. “This is becoming not just [a science and technology] thing. The services are interested in moving forward with real capabilities.”

But Walker also says US R&D on hypersonic weapons isn’t keeping pace with Russia and China. He noted that DARPA is pushing to test a hypersonic missile before 2020 but the agency needs more resources.

“If you look at some of our peer competitors, China being one, the number of facilities that they’ve built to do hypersonics… surpasses the number we have in this country. It’s quickly surpassing it by 2 or 3 times. It is very clear that China has made this one of their national priorities. We need to do the same,” Walker told a press briefing.

The DARPA director declined to comment on Putin’s claim that Russia has a hypersonic missile that can beat enemy antimissile systems.
- Drones, drones and more drones.

The Pentagon wants to purchase 3,447 new drones in 2019. That's quadruple the number that it requested Congress to fund in 2018, according to an analysis of the Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Defense budget request.

The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, which conducted the analysis, estimates that the military is asking for $9.4 billion for drone-related programs, or about a 25 percent increase over last year's $7.5 billion request for 807 drones. About $6 billion would go for procurement of unmanned aircraft, $982 million for naval drones and $429 million for robotic ground vehicles, with the remainder allocated to developing counterdrone defenses as well as advanced concepts like swarm drones and teaming of manned and unmanned craft.

The biggest line item for drone funding is $1.4 billion for the Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper, star player in America's drone wars. Yet if Congress passes this budget, the Navy will actually get the largest share of the $9.4 billion pie, with a $3.8 billion slice for the Navy/Marines, followed by the Air Force, Army and Department of Defense.

One reason for the Navy's bonanza is the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based drone tanker aircraft. The Stingray's prospective budget more than doubled, from $224 million to $756 million to develop two MQ-25 prototypes.
- To date, SpaceX has successfully landed Falcon 9 first stages 23 times and re-flown 11 of them. Falcon 9 first stages perform engine maneuvers in space that send them back to Earth, where they can land on an offshore drone ship or landing pads near their launch sites. They use grid-like fins for stability during re-entry, perform engine burns to slow down and carry landing legs that fold out just before touchdown.

The company has also reused two of its uncrewed Dragon cargo ships to deliver NASA cargo to the International Space Station (one of them is in orbit right now) and is actively trying to capture the payload fairings — or nose cones — that shroud and protect satellites and other payloads during launch. In fact, SpaceX will try to recover the payload fairings again today (April 16) when it launches a Falcon 9 carrying NASA's next exoplanet-hunting space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. You can watch that launch live on Space.com at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) today.

Musk did not reveal a timetable for the "giant party balloon" landing test or details on how it works, but he did say that a sturdy balloon has a good shape to withstand the stresses a rocket stage endures during its supersonic descent back to Earth.

 A giant balloon is "great for creating a giant object that retains its shape across all Mach regimes & drops ballistic coefficient by 2 orders of magnitude," Musk wrote. 

Musk also said that SpaceX already brings its Falcon 9 upper stages back to Earth. They are intentionally disposed of in the Pacific Ocean so they don't become space junk.

"We already do targeted retro burn to a specific point in Pacific [with] no islands or ships, so [the] upper stage doesn't become a dead satellite," Musk wrote on Twitter. "Need to retarget closer to shore & position catcher ship like Mr. Steven." 

Mr. Steven is a ship equipped with a net and giant metal arms to catch falling Falcon 9 payload fairings. Musk has called it a "catcher's mitt" in boat form.

SpaceX's use of a giant balloon for a rocket won't be the first time a company or space agency has attempted to use an inflatable system for re-entry. NASA has conducted several experiments using inflatable "flying saucer"-shaped inflatable heat shields for Mars landings. And in 2012, the private spaceflight company Armadillo Aerospace launched an inflatable balloon parachute, or "ballute," as a part of a re-entry technology test. 
- TESLA has been forced to suspend production of its Model 3 sedan — a car that is considered vital to the company’s future but has been plagued by production delays.

The apparent problem with Tesla’s Model 3 assembly line? Too many robots, according to the man behind the wheel of the company.

Tesla boss Elon Musk took to Twitter to admit his big mistake as the company struggles to fend off critics.

“Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” he tweeted on the weekend. “To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”

Mr Musk has been a vocal advocate of the idea of universal basic income, claiming automation and robots are set to wipe out all sorts of traditional jobs. However Tesla’s own attempts to heavily rely on automation has apparently caused problems.

“We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts,” Mr Musk added in an interview with CBS on the weekend. “And it was not working, so we got rid of that whole thing.”

His concession came as a report published by Reveal in conjunction with The Center for Investigative Reporting claimed that in the company’s eagerness to ramp up production of its Model 3, Tesla quietly concealed the true number of workplace injuries at its Californian assembly plant.

Injuries were reported by workers to supervisors or managers, but the complaints were reportedly dismissed and not passed on to regulators as is required by law.

In a statement on the company’s blog Monday titled “A Not So Revealing Story,” Tesla denounced the story calling Reveal an “extremist organisation” which produced “an article that paints a completely false picture of Tesla.”

On Tuesday morning, it was reported that for the second time this year Tesla has been forced to shut down production of its Model 3 vehicle, the company’s more affordable offering.

The announcement of the four-to-five-day production pause came without warning, according to Tesla employees who spoke with BuzzFeed News.

A Tesla spokesperson said the production halt will be “used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates.”

More than 400,000 people have pre-ordered one of the Model 3 vehicles but their wait continues.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Dealing with Legacy Applications, Random Stuff, and More

- this post is to help outline some methods for dealing with legacy applications...
- compatibility mode works for a lot of programs but sometimes you don't have a choice but other means
- emulation layers such as Wine, Bochs, DosBox, etc... There has even been talk of emulators for older operating systems (such as DOS and Windows 95/98) out there
- watch for strangeness when using emulation layers. Performance issues, bits and pieces not quite fitting in, etc... Be prepared to have to do some work to make things work properly. Some of the underlying programs can be difficult to use so look out for shell, optimisation type programs and templates...
best settings theme hospital dosbox
dos games on windows 7
theme hospital runs slow in dosbox
Theme Hospital - Bullfrog (1997)
windows 98 emulation layer
9xbox fork of DosBox specifically for Windows.
- try running things in a separate virtual machine
- try running things in a seperate server
- some programs re-used backend data to create a new frontend. Total number of applications that have this done is minimal though. The total number of people who can genuinely reverse engineer binary (even text) file formats and programs out there is relatively small based on what I've seen. Tips on this elsewhere on my blog...
theme hospital on windows 7
hospital-22012015.zip
- if you're lucky you search for newer version that is still compatible with your operating system. The best way to achieve this is via basic web search. Thankfully, a lot of older/legacy software allows for re-use of serials along the chain
"delphi 3" on "windows 7"
"delphi 4" on "windows 7"
game maker
- if that fails look at P2P locations for file names, etc... Worry about the legitimacy of P2P sites because they may be carrying trojans and/or spyware. If it's your last resort use something like virustotal.com as a bare minimum
torrent delphi
delphi 7 and 2006 code compatibility
- else, you may need to build a custom 'fuzzer'. Conceptually, looking for 200 as opposed to 404 return status. Experience tells me that for the most part file fuzzing is a useless technique especially when the company is 'larger then average'. Larger then average entails more files which entails unique filenames and directory structures which can not be easily guesstimated which means a fuzzer is relatively useless. It needs to be an intelligent fuzzer which combines spidering/crawling capability whenever possible (look over my past work for further details). For anyone just looking to try/test new software before public release this is a nice way of doing it. Sample code is on my website and blog for anyone who's interested (look for crawling and spidering software samples as well)...
web file fuzzer
- you'll need to keep up with updates and services packs for a lot of Microsoft (and some other company's) software even if it may be 'legacy software'. The painful thing is that the updates often only become security updates later on which means you'll lose functional updates down the line at some point. This generally applies to both commercial as well as Free and Open Source (FOSS) software
microsoft sql server desktop engine
sql server 2005 service pack 3
How To Apply the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 Service Pack 3
SQLServer2005SP3-KB955706-x64-ENU.exe
- look for alternate/compatible solutions. For instance Delphi and Open Pascal/Lazarus are very cross compatible based on what I've read online. alternativeto.net is a great website to look at alternate choices
sample code delphi
open source lazarus projects
open source delphi projects
delphi free 2010
visual studio online
- nightmare scenario is when you have the license but have lost the serial number. Thankfully, prior to the world of authentication a lot of software was reliant on pure serial numbers for 'registration' and to move a product from trial to full . In fact, there were serial databases for programs online (such as Serials2K). For those programs whose serials can't be found in such databases they can often be found online. Sometimes, there are methods to extract the code that you used to install your software originally (from the Windows registry or some other file) but this often requires a specialised utility
extract windows 7 serial number
https://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-your-windows-7-product-key-2625112
Baixar Delphi 7 + Serial - YouTube
Video for delphi 7 serial number
BLOG : www.phsoft.blogspot.com
Delphi 7 : Serial : 6AMD-PKG68E-DB8PP7-9SFE Key : 3QH-9QW
delphi 7 enterprise serial
Serialkey preview: 6AMD-PKG68E-DB8PP7-N7GE
Key: S6J-8AW
- for certain software you don't really have a choice but to deal with crackers since activation/registration systems are no longer online. Multiple types of bypassing: debuggers, crackers (similar to the devices that you see in the movies that are used to bypass physical security systems. See my book on 'Cloud and Internet Security' for further details regarding this), etc... I may supply code for a simplistic 'cracker' later on but fundamentally it's not that much different then some of the 'bot code' that I have mentioned elsewhere on my blog (it will be so rudimentary that it will be effectively useless. Most modern registration systems rely on activation schemes now or else multi layers of serial numbers which are unrealistic to crack for most people without some 'genuine hard work')
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/08/cracking-combination-lock-some-counter.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/07/ableton-and-ableton-push-hacking.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/07/python-decompilation-max4live.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2015/05/installing-logic-9-under-mac-os-x-under.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/07/installing-logic-x-under-mac-os-x-under.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2011/03/eeepc-recovery-without-recovery.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2012/05/fujitsu-stylistic-st4120-recovery.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/03/midi-fighter-pro-firmware-flashing.html
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2011/08/unlocking-your-phonemodem.html
algorithm iterating serial alphanumeric
java password cracker
find serial ollydbg
delphi password cracker
- there are obviously interesting methods to protect/defend software against licensing/registration 'attacks'. Activation is obvious but I've often seen cases where they've had no choice but to drop it because it caused more problems then it fixed
visual studio 2005 activation crack
1. Check license repeatedly
2. Use multiple licensing checking layers
3. Use encrypted dlls
4. Check for the hash of your exe/dll to detect tampering
5. Do not display failures immediately
6. Don't use explicit error messages
7. Crash or fail or output incorrect results when license check fails
8. Embed user information in generated licenses
- go after newer downloads that are compatible with your files and Operating System. Like I said you can do a search, use/build a custom fuzzer, etc... you should be able to find something useful especially if the program registration system is still compatible with your version. Note, Multi-National and Trans-national companies (MNC/TNC) have this problem as well as smaller firms (they rarely ever look to see whether a user has been authenticated prior to allowing downloads)...
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2018/02/bypassing-ejay-downloader-manager.html
search based on MD5 checksum
9d4bac568aced7f1f82d4a44124fb37c 
ID: 30352, Delphi and C++Builder 10 Seattle ISO
download delphi
"delphi 2006" download url
"delphi 2010" download url
Delphi 2010 and C++Builder 2010 ISO
bds2006disk1.iso
[   ] BDS2006Disk1.iso  540.24Mb  October 8 2010 at 05:28
[   ] BDS2006Disk2.iso  494.24Mb  October 8 2010 at 05:28
[   ] BDS2006Disk3.iso  517.60Mb  October 8 2010 at 05:28
[   ] BDS2006Disk4.iso  224.03Mb  October 8 2010 at 05:28
[TXT] md5-суммы.txt  194.00b  October 8 2010 at 05:18
Delphi_C++Builder2009.iso
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache
ETag: "0b4c1e5542dd7cc169e5d85044a9cb33:1363822171"
Last-Modified: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:16:38 GMT
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 2021038080
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2018 08:50:00 GMT
Connection: keep-alive
delphi 2006 iso
- company mergers aren't necessarily a bad thing. Most of the time they just change domains but not file naming and directory structure when they 'switch servers'
- if you can't actually get a copy of the legacy software in question online then try op-shops, specialist software boutiques, retailers, libraries, user/enthusiast groups, organisations which are likely to have a 'spare legacy copy', etc... If not too difficult then try building something from the outset by yourself that is compatible (requires 'reverse engineering' skills though as mentioned above)
http://www.computerbank.org.au/shop/stocklist/
- as an aside, if you've worked in this are you'll realise that there is basically no such as thing as genuine 'computer security'. There's only more and less security? It's much easier to attack then defend. When someone tells you that they can break into a system it's not much a statement if you understand the defender's perspective. Most of the people you see/hear about (even professionals) aren't genuine 'security experts' in the way that the average person is taught. Listen to a lot of their debates and lectures and it becomes obvious that a lot of their work is not that much different from a variation from a lot of the scripts that I use on this blog/website?
The Big Security Debate - Sydney Edition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVY8w49bHgY

Random Stuff:
- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
- latest in science and technology
usb graphics for crypto mining
usb graphics card mining 
Windows Mobile for Government - Common Criteria certification
cheat theme hospital reputation
- latest in finance and politics
- latest in defense and intelligence
- latest in animal news
- latest in music and entertainment

Random Quotes:
- Pogue claims the report also shatters another common perception of cyber security, “that of the teenage hacker living in a basement”.

The report found that three-quarters of respondents were college graduates and nearly one-third (32%) had post-graduate degrees. The majority (57%) worked for medium-sized, large, or enterprise businesses.

“When organisations develop their cyber security strategies, they may have IT, legal, risk, and human resources teams at the table but the one person they never invite is the bad guy,” Pogue said. “It’s no wonder that so many security strategies are misdirected.

“The Nuix Black Report 2018 is an opportunity to bring the adversary to the table and have the hackers themselves tell you what’s most effective for your security efforts.”
- These results suggest the Iron Dome debate has been too polarized. The system’s initial value may have been largely symbolic. But it later become very influential.

That’s good news for Israel and its American funder. It’s also reassuring for potential Iron Dome buyers facing missile threats in other parts of the world.

Only Azerbaijan has purchased any systems so far. But the U.S. Army may buy some for short-range air defence. (Canada only bought the radar.)

However, the system isn’t “the end of rockets.” Attackers can counter interceptors by firing rockets in large batches. Indeed, Israel’s opponents keep acquiring more rockets. Hamas in strife-filled Gaza reportedly has 10,000. Hezbollah in Lebanon has 120,000. That latter arsenal would severely strain Israeli interceptors during any future “Northern War.”

Similarly, sophisticated attackers use technology to make their missiles hard to intercept. In their Syria strike, America and its allies used difficult-to-detect cruise missiles. Defenders can’t intercept what their radars can’t see.

Fixing Cheap Hurricane Gen850 and Scorpion ET950L Power Generators, Microwave Rice, and More

Fixing Cheap Hurricane Gen850 and Scorpion ET950L Power Generators: - I've obviously been playing around with small ICE engines of late....